Philippine inflation rate eases to 3.3 pct in August

MANILA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — The Philippines’ headline inflation eased to 3.3 percent in August from 4.4 percent in July, mainly due to slower increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
“The downtrend in the overall inflation in August 2024 was primarily brought about by the slower annual increment of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.9 percent in August 2024 from 6.4 percent in the previous month,” PSA chief Dennis Mapa told a news conference.
Mapa said that transport also contributed to the downtrend, with an annual drop of 0.2 percent during the month from a 3.6 percent annual increase in July 2024.
The decline in the August inflation rate brings the national average inflation from January to August 2024 to 3.6 percent. In August 2023, the inflation rate was higher at 5.3 percent.
Mapa said the core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, slowed down to 2.6 percent in August from 2.9 percent in July. In August last year, core inflation was higher at 6.1 percent.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the slowdown in inflation was primarily driven by a decrease in food inflation, which fell to 4.2 percent in August from 6.7 percent in the previous month.
“This reduction is largely attributed to a significant decline in rice inflation, which decreased to 14.7 percent from 20.9 percent in the prior month,” Balisacan said in a statement.
He added that the sustained easing of inflation will support growth in household consumption, which elevated prices have long suppressed.
“Low-income households will benefit from the decline in food inflation, as food constitutes more than half of the consumption of the bottom 30 percent of households,” Balisacan said. ■